No sooner did Osama bin Laden get killed than his advice was being ignored by his adherents.

That revelation is included in Peter Bergen's blockbuster article in Time magazine describing the al Qaeda leader's life in Abbottabad. Bergen, who is also CNN's terrorism analyst, has seen some of the documents seized by the U.S. Special Operations Forces during the bin Laden raid a year ago.

"On Aug. 7, 2010, he wrote to the leader of the brutal al-Shabaab militia in Somalia to warn that declaring itself part of al-Qaeda would only attract enemies and make it harder to raise money from rich Arabs," Bergen noted in the Time magazine article.
But just seven months later, al-Shabaab did just that, announcing a merger with the organization now headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri.

A U.S. intelligence bulletin obtained by CNN after the two terror groups announced the merger suggested that relationship could "undermine" efforts by al-Shabaab supporters in the U.S., stating some have "previously claimed ignorance of al-Shabaab's designation as a foreign terrorist organization in court proceedings or otherwise indicated that they supported al-Shabaab primarily for nationalistic reasons.

- It would take two to three months for bin Laden to get responses to his communications because he relied on letters, rather than phone or the Internet, to get his messages out and receive letters. Ultimately, his reliance on couriers who helped carry these messages is what doomed bin Laden.

- The al Qaeda leader was trolling for ideas to mark the 10th anniversary of September 11th attacks and pondered trying to get attention from a U.S. network "that can be close to being unbiased such as CBS."

- He complained that Times Square attempted bomber Faisal Shahzad was breaking the oath of allegiance to the U.S. that he would have taken when becoming an American citizen. According to Bergen, bin Laden wrote: "It is not permissible in Islam to betray trust and break a covenant."

I do not even understand how I ended up right here, but I assumed this post was good. I don't recognize who you're but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you happen to are not already. Cheers!

– The al Qaeda leader was trolling for ideas to mark the 10th anniversary of September 11th attacks and pondered trying to get attention from a U.S. network "that can be close to being unbiased such as CBS."

If he had said " Fox" i think Republicans would have committed mass suicide.

– He complained that Times Square attempted bomber Faisal Shahzad was breaking the oath of allegiance to the U.S. that he would have taken when becoming an American citizen. According to Bergen, bin Laden wrote: "It is not permissible in Islam to betray trust and break a covenant."

I'm kind of surprised OBL would think that way about breaking a trust, and at the same time think killing 3,000 innocent people is ok.

This so-called "great" Arab leader didn't make any effort to keep his data out of the hands of his enemies in case he was over-run. EVERY low level commander knows you must have plans in place to destroy your intelligence data in case of being over-run or killed. Bin Laden just left it lying all around and we got all of it.

My question: "Is this the BEST that Arabs have to offer?"

If so, they wouldn't even make the first semester at a US Military academy.

Mike: You criticize Bin Laden's competence, but he was good enough to blow a hole in the Pentagon, which was more than Hitler or the Imperial Japanese could accomplish. As to your contempt for him, allow me to suggest that failing to respect one's enemies can lead to nasty surprises, as Bin Laden taught the U.S. in 2001 and, ultimately, as the U.S. taught Bin Laden.

"My question: "Is this the BEST that Arabs have to offer?" " Of course not, dummy. You are a hugher jass than I am. He was a criminal, working outside the law and against custom, not an agent of a government with deep pockets.

To oh!: Your judgment is unfairly harsh. Of course Osama sent his subordinates to die. Every high-level military leader does. That does not make him a coward. I am delighted that the U.S. killed the man, and I am delighted that U.S. forces continue to hunt and kill other Al Quaeda personnel, but let's give our enemies their due.

Figures it would take something like this to get me to litsen to The Suburbs again they were a part of my college rock phase (along with stuff like the Waterboys and XTC) before I started litsening to strictly hardcore.And I still don't mind Live Skull, I litsened to Dusted a couple of times last week and it still sounded pretty good they were a lot better live then they were on record; James Lo is an incredible drummer.

Osama was no different than thousands of other lunatic religious zealots willing to die for their fantasy. They are everywhere. Eventually, human progress will weed them out as they die off from their hopeless crusades. Unfortunately, ignorance is a persistent trait among our species. Something else will replace religion.

Because they didn't want there to be a place for Osama sympathizers to "praise" his body or whatever. Any grave site, anywhere, would attract supporters of terrorism to "give homage" to him- the US basically wants to wipe his influence from the Earth.

Is Elvis really dead? Perhaps John F. Kennedy is still around somewhere? If they put Osama's corpse at your doorstep moose, COULD YOU REALLY KNOW if it was him, or a look-alike? The circumstantial evidence is good – Osama no longer produces videos, the second in command does it, nobody in the arab world denies he is dead. At some point you just have to believe. The burying at sea made sense because they didn't want a shrine for his followers to rally around. Also supposedly no country wanted his body. So yes, believe it.

I had reason to stay a cploue of nights at one of the pubs in Northam when working there a few years back. Having a drink, I got chatting to a chap who, it turned out, was my teenaged niece's xxxxxxxxxx. He proceeded to get smashed by walking around every 15 minutes and finishing off drinks people had left behind. My niece xxxxx xx xxxxxx xxxx shortly after.It truly is a shithole of a town.

May 21, 2012 at 3:05 am |

Hugh Jass

Ever seen Jim Morrison's grave, or Duane Allman's? We don't want a shrine, although it could be fun if it had land mines around it. Dump it and forget it, same as garbage. Is he alive? Is Tupac? I don't think either one of them could be quiet this long.

Well name secular organizations that start wars and kill for non religion. No that was not Stalin or Mao. They killed to be in power they didn't kill to eliminate religion and the Nazis were religious. What secular organization enslaves women and kills children?
Religious organizations have a long history of wars in the name of the faith, murder and torture for their view of God and Women have never been equal in almost any religion.

I didn't say a secular "organization" did such things in the name of non religion. My point is only that such things have been done with absolutely no connection to religion and even by people who were not necessarily religious. To think otherwise is to ignore historic facts. Wars are the result of pride, greed for resources and territory, hatred for rivals and differing ethnic groups, and so on. Yes some are done in the name of religion. Some are done simply with religion as an excuse. Many have nothing to do with religion.

Although, since you mentioned them, the communists in Russia and China, and the Nazis in Germany, did actively suppress various religions and churches at various times. The Russian Orthodox Church was nearly destroyed in the 20s and 30s with many people killed for their beliefs by atheists. Religious people were killed in the name of non-religion. Sure some Nazis were religious, but they certainly weren't a religious organization nor did they do what they did for religion. It was nationalism and a dissatisfaction with their previous government, the Weimar Republic. In fact the Nazis didn't even kill Jews for their religion. It was all about ethnicity. Even atheist Jews and converted Christian Jews were killed. Non-Jews were killed as well.

What caused the Vietnam and Korean wars? Differing political ideologies. What caused world war 1? An Austrian archduke was assassinated for political reasons. What caused the American civil war? Politics, economics, and other reasons- none of which were about religion. I could go on and on almost endlessly about wars that happened for reasons other than religion.

How about the other things I quoted above- slavery of women, killing children, and genocide? Any one of these have and are being done by people, both religious and not, all the time. Is religion the cause? No, because even non-religious people have done such things as commit murder, or abuse others, and in no small numbers.

For some reason on CNN I see a lot of comments from people that I assume are atheists who seem to think that religion as a whole is the source of literally every problem in the world and that if only people would shed their beliefs then we would enter a glorious era of peace and civilization. The truth is that all manners of evil are in the hearts of men and, with or without religion, humans have and will acted upon every one of these evils. Religion, or at least some such as Christianity, actively teaches -against- such evils. Whether people who call themselves Christian choose to actually accept such teachings is another matter, unfortunately.

April 28, 2012 at 11:52 pm |

Micah

Science built those planes that flew into buildings, and nukes and chemical poisons, and what ever else is destroying the earth.

God created that moon that we went to, and the spirit of compasssion to open those hospitals.

But let's forget the tit for tat.

Bin laden knew we had become an Enron economy full of deceit, the rest of America is just catching on. The T Party and the Occupy movement is striving for peaceful change.

We all know what will happen if peace fails.

April 29, 2012 at 6:00 pm |

melvinslizard

Micah and Cavepainter-
Two thumbs up. Like!

April 30, 2012 at 10:05 am |

CC

Really cavepainter and micah? God really? God didn't make the moon. Science can explain that. Stop bringing your imaginary sky fairy in to this. The idea of him is the reason we are in this mess.I'll let you decide which of the thousands of religion is the true one for your response. I'll give extra credit if your answer isn't Islam, Christianity or Judaism.

April 30, 2012 at 2:45 pm |

Hugh Jass

"Religion, or at least some such as Christianity, actively teaches -against- such evils. " Oh come on, the Spanish Inquisition gives you the lie. As far as I'm concerned it's all atheists; not one of you actually believes.

Hey, Ann, ever hear of the Khmer Rouge? "God is Dead." And so were 20 million Cambodians.

April 30, 2012 at 10:04 am |

Hugh Jass

Ever heard of a Cathar? They didn't worship Jesus correctly, so they all died suddenly, even the women and children.

May 2, 2012 at 12:17 pm |

csmythe

These silly, ancient superstitious religions could actually orchestrate the fall of modern man. Be afraid, be VERY afraid. It HAS happened before. About the time a contemporary civilization peaks selfish superstitious hordes resenting advancements move in to the utter destruction of said civilization. We are so close to a society with unlimited food and energy. Don't let the hordes and greed destroy modern humanity's potential once more.

In Israel torturing Palestinians
Human rights organizations have reported that at least 4700 Palestinians in prisons in Israel. They do not recognize the status of prisoners of war and they were tortured. On that occasion, at a rally in Gaza were carried green flags of Hamas and Islamic Jihad black. Whether this could be interpreted as a sign of growing ties between the two organizations that have the same ideology and advocate for the destruction of Israel? Israel last year released 1000 Palestinians in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad shalt. I am against not only verbal (?) Threats to Israel, but "important" one Jew for 1,000 Palestinians!

The Obama Administration may have not saved America a misconception in any presidency. But of all the presidency in history next to JFK & others who stopped the unthinkable, Germany-Hitler,Old-Japan,Cuba. The Obama National Security Team saved your ass. The fact of the matter is this. Although reports say AQ/OBL did not have any specific plans to attack the U.S post info received after the may 1st 2011 raids. OBL did. He focused on intelligence proxy support in his own secured fall out shelter Military compound in Abbot bad Pakistan. OBL was brain storming for a major attack on the U.S post 2014 and before- U.S/NATO withdrawal. The attacks where not gonna be as big as September 11Th..but BIGGER. In laments term Osama Bin Laden was inside close proximity of Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal in a compound with a shovel and bucket. In addition he was determined to kill hundreds and thousands of people in the U.S and the West. When other (not all) presidents and their administrations sat hand & fork with their side line income with Security Analyst contracts on $ 900 Billion defense budgets. The Obama Administration did not.. it went after those people using a different approach. An approach that stopped fueling the security firms and contracts that where feeding the republicans and its retired analyst with Billions of Tax dollars for almost 10years. Today because of the Obama National Security we are safer. Just remember Analyst Contracts that bilked the U.S tax payer of Billions of dollars for almost 10 years keeping Osama Bin Laden Alive!!

Even someone that has no experience leading anything can get credit for something that his predecessors started and built. Obama should thank the past presidents for laying the ground work that he is claiming now.

@ another person - yeah, well I bet you are one of those people that claims Obama deserves all the credit for the bad economy. He was the commander in chief when the raid happened he damn well can take credit for it.

April 27, 2012 at 1:36 pm |

person

Your last president and his vice where the Security Analyst Contracts!!

April 27, 2012 at 11:54 pm |

person

Your last president and his vice where the Analyst Contracts!!

April 27, 2012 at 11:55 pm |

Dennis

Do you mean the same one who after repeated warnings and security briefings allowed 9/11 to proceed on schedule?

April 28, 2012 at 9:15 pm |

Angela Birch

I wonder what past presidents. Bushie had demolished the Bin Ladin group at the CIA within 6 months of 9/11. Said he didn't care about him any more. Once Bushie let him escape from Thora Bora by ordering the Rangers to stand down and not pursue him.
Obama had to rebuild the CIA group from scratch so they could analyse information that Bush had ignored after April 2002. Obama met with the CIA group weekly helped formulate the plans chose the one that was carried out. Remember the Head of the CIA, appointed by George Bush, Robert Gates said that it was the bravest act he had ever seen a president take. Bush would have had more credit if he hadn't quit looking for him.

April 28, 2012 at 10:04 pm |

Hugh Jass

Even someone that has no experience leading anything can get credit for something that his predecessors started and built, and that was our thinking when we put Herman Cain, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, and Mitt Romney up as possible presidents. Hey, voters are dumb, right?

Actually, gideon, that statement is wrong. The United States trained and equipped jihadist groups, but Osama bin Laden had his own wealth and his own networks. He was not a jihadi, but he was a facilitator. He funded jihadist groups that the United States did not support. The United States did not work with bin Laden, and he wouldn't have wanted to work with the U.S. even if given the opportunity.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the United States did not train Osama. He didn't even "fight" the Soviets. He provided money for other people to do that.

April 28, 2012 at 10:52 pm |

Hugh Jass

"This is known." Are you one of the handmaidens from GAME OF THRONES?

May 2, 2012 at 1:21 pm |

HWB

What a load of crap. You not only said a lot, but in doing so you really said nothing. Try again and put it on the college level or move it to the 2nd grade and say it again slower.

Post a comment

CNN welcomes a lively and courteous discussion as long as you follow the Rules of Conduct set forth in our Terms of Service. Comments are not pre-screened before they post. You agree that anything you post may be used, along with your name and profile picture, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the license you have granted pursuant to our Terms of Service.

Search Security Clearance

Share this blog

About this blog

CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.